Improvement in machines for ironing hats



' 3Sheets--Sheet1. R. El GKEMEY ER. Machines for Ironing Hats.

[WHW mim 3 Sheets--Sheet 2.

Hats.

n. EIDKEMEYER. Machines for Ironi ng Painted Dec. 30,1873.

AM PHOIU -l/ THM/PA Fil/f: Ca. M rasgos/ws M0055! 'UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE.

RUDOLF nIOKnMnYi-ln, or YONKEns, New YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN MACHINES FOR IRONING HATS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 145,934, dated December30, 1873; application led April 4, 1873.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, RUDOLF EIOKEMEYER, ofYonkers, in the county of Westchester and State of New York, have madean invention of certain new and useful Improvements in Machinery forIroning Hats and for other purposes; and that the following is a full,clear, and exact description and-'specification of the same.

The object of this-invention is to enable the whole of a hat to beironed automatically without removing it from the machine, the tip andsquare being ironed, according to my invention, by means of one or moretraversing irons, which change their positions so as to adapt theirfaces to the portions of the hat upon which they are to operate, and thebrim being ironed upon both sides simultaneously without beig'- wrinkledor strained.

The invention consists of certain mechanical constructions andcombinations, which are specified in detail at the close of thisschedule.

In order that the invention may be fully understood, I have representedin the accompanying drawings, and will proceed to describe, anironing-machine in which I have embodied them all.

In the said drawings, Figure l represents a side view of the machine.Fig. 2 represents a top view of the same. Fig. 3 represents a side viewof certain portions of the machine with the traversing irons and theirappurtenances operating upon the square of the crown. Fig.

4 represents a top view of said portions at that' Fig. 5 represents avertical section of time. the machine at the line a; a: of Fig. 2. Fig.6 represents a view of certain parts of the machine detached frorn theresidue. Figs. 7 represent various views of the irons which I havedevised and which I prefer to use in the machine.

The same parts are denoted by the same letters throughout all the gures.

The machine represented in the said drawings has a strong frame, A,which supports the moving parts of the machine and sustains thedriving-shaft B. At about the center of this frame there is an uprightshaft, C, which is constructed to revolve in suitable bearings, andcarries at its upper end the block-holder D, to which the hat-blocks areapplied. These hat-blocks are of the shape to which the crown of the hatis to bei'roned, and may be made of wood, in the usual manner, the blockE being in one piece whenthe crown is to be of such form that a solidblock can be readily shaft B through the intervention of the cogwheels bb b b and the shaft C.

In order that. the brim of the hat may be ironed simultaneously on bothsides, two brimirons, F F1, are provided. One, F, of these irons isconstructed to press upon the upper side of the brim, with the corner ofthe iron against the adjacent band of the hat. The other iron, F1, isconstructed to support the brim against the pressure of the upperbrimiron F, and also to iron the under side of the brim. The upperbrim-iron F is connected by pivots e c with a yoke, d, so that this ironmay rock upon its longitudinal axis, or thereabout, and the yoke d ispivoted to a movable arm, G, so that the brim-iron may rock upon itsvtransverse axis, or thereabout, the practical effect of this doublepivoting being that the upper iron can adapt itself to any peculiarityof the brim. The movable arm Gr is connected with the frame of themachine by a species of universal joint, which permits said arm and thebrim-iron connected. with it to be raised and moved laterally. The saidjoint is formed by the T-headed rest H, which is constructed to turn ina socket of the frame A, and by the pivot which connects the hub h ofthe arm G with said rest. As this pivot is at right angles to the stemof the rest, the movement of the arm and upper brimiron in alldirections is permitted. The weight of the upper brim-iron and itsappurtenances is generally sufiicient to furnish the requisite pressurefor ironing; but additional weight may, if necessary, be applied to thearm G. rlhe upper brim-iron is held toward the band by means of aweight, K, which is connected with over the square toward the sidecrown, or passthe hub of the arm by means of a cord, j.

As the hat is revolved in contact with the upper brim-iron, and there ismore or less friction produced by this movement, there is a tendency toruck up, strain, or wrinkle the brim. In previous hat-ironing machinesthis tendency has been counteracted more or less by supporting the brimupon a block which revolved with the hat-block; but the use of such abrim-block rendered the ironing of the under side of the brimsimultaneously with the ironing of its upper side impracticable. t

In the machine represented in the drawings, the tendency of the ironingto wrinkle, ruck up, or strain the brim is counteracted by con-lstructing one of the brim-irons (in the present case the lower one, F1)to revolve in the same direction as the hat-block, but at greater speed;and to this end the under brim-iron Fl has the form of a disk, and ismounted upon the shaft -The speed at which the revolving brim-iron ismoved may be varied to suit circumstances; but it has been found byexperiment that the best arrangement for the machine represented in thedrawings is that the forward speed of the under brim-iron, at the middleof the brim, should be about twice as great as the speed of the brim atthe same place. The surface of the revolvingbrim-iron F1 is in the sameplane, or thereabout, as the brim of the hat when in the machine;consequently the surface of the part of the iron in contact with thebrim moves outward from the axis of the block-holder as that surfaceleaves the brim; andas the hatbrim is carried round by the revolution ofthe block-holder, the resultant action is to draw the nap of the brimradially outward from the band, and to assimilate the ironing to thatdone by hand. The under brim-iron might be arranged concentrically withthe block-holder, and consequently with the hat thereon, and might becaused to revolve at a higher speed than the block-holder; but thearrangement of the revolving brim-ironlaterally to the blockholder, asrepresented in the drawings, is preferred, because its'tendency in thisposition is to cause the nap of the brim to lie approximately radiallyto the crown of the hat.

In order that the side crown, square, Aand tip of the hat may be ironed,two traversing irons, F2 F3, are provided. One of these irons, F2, isconstructed to iron the tip of the hatbod y, and the other iron to ironthe side crown, while the two traverse or move over the square so as toiron it, the same iron in such traversing movement passing from the tipcrosswise ing from the side crown crosswise over the square toward thetip, with its ironing-surface always bearing flatwise against thesurface of the hat upon which it is acting. The tip-iron F2 is pivotedto ayoke, d2, by whichit is connected with a holder, J, which supportsthe iron through the intersection of its yoke, and the crown-iron F3 ispivoted to a similar yoke, cl3, by which it also is connected with thesame iron-holder J. The iron-holder has the general form of a T, and itsstem is constructed to turn in a hub, f, so that the iron-holder, and

the irons connected with it, may be turned to v cause the irons totraverse over the square m of the hat, and thereby iron it.

In order to turn the iron-holder and the traversing irons connected withit, the stem of the iron-holder is fitted with a cog-segment, b2, and acorresponding segment, b3, is arranged to turn upon an arm, g,projecting from the hub j', and to engage with the first cog-segment,b2. The second segment, b3, is connected by a rod, l, with a lever, L,which is moved by a cam, M, the lever being iitted with afriction-wheel, which runs in the groove of the cam. The cam is securedto a cam-shaft, C2, which is driven from the driving-shaft G through theintervention of the cog-wheels b4 b4, the belt-pulleys N N1, and a beltwhose position is indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 2. The rotationof the cam M causes the ironholder J, and the irons F2 F3 connected withit, to turn to and fro, so as to carry the faces of the irons across thesquare of the hat and back again. The time during which the irons areoperating upon the square depends upon the form of the cam, the speed atwhich it is revolved, and the time during which it moves, These may allbe varied, as required; and as it may be expedient to cause the hat torevolve at times without the irons F2 F3 being in operation upon it, thebelt-pulley N1 is arranged to run loose upon the driving-shaft, and aclutch-lever, m, and clutch n are provided to throw it either in or outof gear.

In order that the tip and crown irons F2 F3 may be readily removed fromthe hat and applied to it, the hub f, in which the iron-holder turns, isconnected with a swinging bar, O, which is pivoted at its lower end uponthe shaft C2, so that its upper end,with the traversing irons, may bemoved from or toward the hat-block on the revolving block-holder. Themovement is effected by means of a handlever, G', which is pivoted to astandard of the main frame, and is connected with the swinging arm Q bymeans of a link, p. Inorder that the traversing irons may press upon thehat with the requisite force, a weight, K1, is

provided. This weight is suspended from the' longer arm of anelbow-lever, P, whose shorter arm, q, is slotted to receive a stud, s,that is secured to the swinging arm O, so that the force of the weightK1 forces the swinging arm toward the revolving block-holder and thehatblock, and. causes the crown -iron to bear against the hat thereon.As the yokes to which the irons F2 F3 are pivoted are inclined to thedirection in which the swinging arm is forced by the weight, and as thesquare of the hat intervenes between the faces of the irons' form of ascrew, in order that the relative po` sitions of the two irons may beadjusted to suit hats with crowns of dierent forms. or sizes. Thepivoting of the yokes d2 d3 to the iron-holder J permits them to move-soas to adjust their faces to the square of the hat during the turning` ofthe irons across it, and the extent of this self-adjustment is regulatedby means of two adjusting-screws, t2 t3, which screw through ears of thecross-bars of the yoliesd2 cl3, and bear against a lug, u, projectingfrom the iron-holder J.

In order that the traversing irons may adjust themselves to the ovalform of the hatcrown as its shorter and longer diameters aresuccessively revolved past their faces, the hub f, that carries theiron-holder of the traversing irons, is pivoted to the swinging arm bybeing connected with it by a journal which turns in a bearing in thatarm; and as the weight of the irons and yokes is all at 011e side ofthis journal, the irons tend to drop, the effect of which tendency, ifnot counteracted, would be to cause the tip-iron to press too stronglyupon the tip, and the crown-iron to press too lightly against thesidecrown. The irons also would tend to drop when swung back from thehat, unless the tendency were counteracted. In order to counteract suchtendency,a second weight, K2, is provided, and is arranged to operateupon the stock and irons through the intervention ofthe lever-arm P',which is secured at its inner end to the hub f, which carries theiron-holder J, so that this weight tends to rock the hub f on itsjournal, and thus raise the head of the iron-holder J and the traversingironsconnected therewith, thereby eounterbalancin g their weight,preventing excessive pressure upon the tip, and applying the requisitepressure to the side crown. This counter-weight K2 is also so arrangedas to modify the pressure of the traversing irons upon the hat whilethey are operating upon the square, at which time the pressure should beless, because of the less extent of surface upon which the irons operateat the time. To this end 'the lever-arm P is fitted with a pin, v, whichprojects from it laterally behind the swinging arm O, and at a shortdistance therefrom, when the irons are operating upon the tip and sidecrown, so that during the ironing of these portions the counter-weightK2 does not relieve the pressure of the irons. lVhen, however, the ironsare turned crosswise upon the square,they and the swinging arm arepushed back by the square of the hat-block, which then bearssimultaneously against the faces of the irons transversely to theirlength; and, as the square does not, in this position, tend to preventthe rise of the irons by the action of the counter-weight, this weightdescends yuntil the pin c of the leverarm P comes in contact with thebac-k of the swinging bar O, and thus applies any excess of force in theweight K2 to that arm, thereby facilitating its backward movement,counteracting partially the tendency of the weightK1 to bear the ironsagainst the hat, and reducing the pressure of the traversing irons. Theweights K K1 K2 are, by preference, made up of disks suspended uponrods, and the disks are slotted at one side, that they may be readilyapplied to or removed from the suspendingrods, for the purpose ofvarying the force with which the irons are pressed against the hat, asrequired, in practice, for hats of dierent forms or different sizes orqualities. The pivoting of the tip and side-crown irons to their yokes,and the pivoting of the latter to the iron-holder J, permit the irons tosway for the purpose of adapting their faces to the varying positions ofthe surfaces of the hat upon which they act,

,such variation in the positions being due to the fact that hat-crownsare oval, and that the irons traverse'across the square of the hat; and,in order that the connecting yoke-screw t may not prevent this swaying,it is connected with the cross-bar of one yoke, d2, by means of abearing which turns in that cross-bar, and its nut is constructed toturn in the cross-bar of the other yoke d'2.

The irons which I prefer to use are made hollow, and are heated bygas-jets. They are represented in detail at Fig. 7. Each iron is hollow,to permit of the introduction of the gaspipe w, and each iron isconstructed with a chimney, x, so as to create a current of air in aspecific direction, and thuslcause the hot products of combustion totraverse the cavity of the iron. The cavity in each iron is par-` tiallydivided by a partition, as represented in dotted lines at y, so that thehot current ofthe products of combustion is caused to traverse the irontwice, the result of which is considerable economy in the .consumptionof gas required to heat the irons. The lower brimiron, F1, also, ishollow below, and is heated by gas -jets supplied by the pipes w w. Thedriving shaft B is fitted with two loose beltpulleys, N2 N3, either ofwhich may be engaged with the driving-sliaft by means of a doubleclutch, m', which is operated by means of a clutch-lever, R. Thesepulleys-are of different dimensions, and receive the drivin g-belt whichtransmits power from the line-shafting of the factory. The use of twobelt-pulleys enables the driving-shaft to be driven at either of twodifferent speeds, the smaller pulley N3 being caused to revolve with thegreater speed.

Then the machine is not in operation, the

upper brim-iron F is removed from the vicinity of the rotatingblock-holder E by lifting this brim-iron by means of the handle z,formed upon the arm Gr, and by moving it outward and resting the armupon a rest, S, whence the arm is prevented from moving by a stud, r,projecting from said rest. The tip and sidecrown irons F2 F3, also, arethrown back from the vicinity of the revolving block-holder by themovement of the swinging arm O and its appurtenances, by means of thehand-lever G. A hat-block, with the hat fitted upon it, is then appliedto the pins e e, and, if the hat is to be pounced or s 7,on gedpreliminary to ironing it, rthe clutchever R is moved so as to throw thedriving-shaft in gear with the fastermoving belt-pulley N3, so t-hat thchat is caused to revolve rapidly. When ironing is to be performed, theclutch-lever is shifted so as to throw the drivin g-shaft in gear withthe slowermoving driving pulley N2. Then the upper brim-iron F isbrought into action by means of the lever G, and, as the brim is thenpressed between the opposing faces of the two brimirons, it is ironed onboth sides simultaneously. The tip and side-crown irons F2 F3 arebrought into action by means of the lever Gr', and are caused totraverse over the square and back again by throwing the beltpulley Ninto gear with the pulley N2 by means of the clutchlever fm. Theemployment of a clutch and clutch-lever permits the operator to keep thetip and side-crown irons bearing upon the hat without traversing overthe square as long as lle deems expedient. Vhen the hat is sufficientlyironed, the levers G and G are moved so as to remove the irons, the hat,with the hatblock, is lifted from the pins e of the revolvingblock-holder, and a new hat, previously fitted to a hat-block, is put inits place, the machine being stopped or not during the shifting of thehat-blocks, as found expedient.

In the machine thus described, the revolving block-holder is theinstrumentality by means of which the hat-block and the hat thereon aresupported, and by means of which the hat is turned so as to presentevery part of it in succession to the irons. This revolving hat-block iscombined with the several irons and their appurtenances by means of theframe of the machine, the gearing, and the appurtenances Y ofthe irons,all of which may be greatly varied without materially changing thecombina tions. Thus, for example, the swinging arm O may be replaced bya sliding instrumentality, by which the traversing iron or irons may bemoved, or permitted to move, from or toward the revolving block-holder.So, also, a single iron may be arranged to traverse the square of thehat, and the work of ironing the tip and side crown may be mainly doneby means of irons which do not traverse across the square. These andother modifications may be adopted to suit the views of differentconstructors.

I claim as my invention- 1. The combination, substantially as before setforth, of the revolving block-holder with a revolving brim-iron havingits ironing-surface arranged to revolve in the plane of the hat-brimwhen supported by the block-holder.

2. The combination of the revolving blockholder, the revolvingdisk-formed brim-iron, and the stationary brim-iron, the said two ironsbeing arranged to operate simultaneously upon the opposite sides of thebrim of the hat carried by the revolving block-holder, substantially asbefore set forth.

3. The combination of the stationary brimiron and the revolvingbrim-iron, having their faces arranged opposite to each other,substantially as before set forth.

4. The combination, substantially as before set forth, of the revolvingblock-holder with a traversing iron, by mechanism, in such manner thatthe said iron is caused to move crosswise over the square of the hat,when the said hat is caused to revolve with the blockholder.

5. The combination of the traversing iron, the turning iron-holder, therocking hub of said holder, and the swinging arm, substantially asbefore set forth.

6. The combination of the traversing iron, the turning iron-holder, therocking hub, and the counter-weight, substantially as before set forth.

7. The combination of the traversing iron, the turning iron-holder, theswinging arm, the pressure-weight, and the counter-weight, substantiallyas before set forth.

8. The combination of the two traversing irons, the yokes for saidirons, and the screw by means of which the said yokes are connected,substantially as before set forth.

9. The combination of the two traversing irons, the pivoted yokesthereof, the ironholder, and the adjusting-screws which control the swayof said yokes and irons, substantially as before set forth.

10. The combination of the revolving blockholder with two traversingirons, arranged so as to operate upon the tip and side crown, and totraverse the square of the hat, substantially as before set forth.

l1. The combination of the revolving blockholder with a traversingiron,the turning ironholder, and the swngin g bar, by means of which thesaid traversing iron can be moved from or toward the block-holder,substantially as before set forth.

12. The combination of the revolving blockholder, the traversing iron,the pivoted yoke of said iron, and the turning iron-holder, substantially as before set fort 13. The combination of the revolving blockholder, the traversing iron, the turning ironholder, the swinging bar,and the weight by means of which the traversing iron is pressed towardthe block -holder, substantially as before set forth.

14. The combination of the revolving blockholder with the traversingiron and the turning iron-holder through the intervention of a clutch,which permits the traversing iron to' be operated simultaneously withthe blook- Witness my hand this 19th day of March, holder, or not7aslrequired, substantially as be- A. I). 187 3. fore set forth.

15. The combination of the revolving blockholder with twodriving-pu11eys and the clutch, Witnesses: so that the block-holder maybe made to re- JAS. G. WooDWoRTH, volvo a-t eithel` of two differentspeeds, sub- EDWARD W. KUSTER. stantially as before set forth.

RUDOLF EICKEMEYER.

